John wraps up his letter with encouragement and blessings for his readers. Because of Jesus we have confidence to ask God for whatever we need, according to His will. He keeps us in His care to keep us from sinning and reveals to us life with a capital L - life eternal.

The trinity of witnesses point us to the one Christ who died for the life of the world. Those who believe in this Son of God are born anew from water and the Spirit, and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.

Spirit, water, blood. These three agree that life is found in Jesus.

God is love, which He expresses by giving His Son, Jesus. Whoever confesses Jesus as the Son of God has the love of God through the gift of the Spirit. Having been loved by God, our imperfect and misguided loves are perfected.

Listen in on this study of 1 John 4:11-21 to discover the perfect love that perfects our love.

Four verses and a complete theology of love - it's nature, source, shape, and aim. Listen to hear how love tempers the faith and works together for salvation and life.

The Spirit is God's gift in Christ. But the Spirit of God is not the only spirit that a person can have. St. John offers a test for the spirits, by which he means those who claim to bring a message from God. How do you know if the spirit of is of God or an evil spirit? Tune in and listen and read along.

The second half of John's epistle echoes the first and expands on the main theme. Love one another. This is not simply one of several options in the world, but an entirely different world - a world ruled by love. In this episode, we'll discover with St. John how love and hate are misidentified. We'll also learn to identify self-sacrificial, agape love, and how such love can be cultivated.

This section of John's epistle recaps the first half. John urges us to live a life for the sake of Jesus, not for the sake of sin, because we are God's children. Although, what we will be has not yet appeared. That's Jesus. Risen. Glorified. And we will be like Him.

This episode digs a little deeper into what St. John means by "antichrist" and examines how the Lutheran Confessions apply the term. But more importantly, St. John shows us the way to being with Christ, not against Him.

When will the last days begin? John says we're already there. In this episode we start to unpack John's eschatology (study of the last things) and we'll get introduced to antichrist. But more on that next time.

A curious little section, St. John addresses children, fathers, and young men of the church for encouragement and warning.